One, UFOs are real; two, UFOs represent extremely advanced technology and, three, tremendous breakthroughs will happen if we make it safe for our scientists and engineers to study this phenomenon unimpeded.

Jan Harzan

“One, UFOs are real; two, UFOs represent extremely advanced technology and, three, tremendous breakthroughs will happen if we make it safe for our scientists and engineers to study this phenomenon unimpeded.

“These breakthroughs involve the fields of propulsion, energy, communication, biology and consciousness, to name just a few.”

Many UFO believers are convinced that UFOs are powered by a “free energy” system that has no cost to produce.

There is a growing conspiracy theory that the US Government already knows how to harness this power after allegedly recovering a crashed UFO at Roswell in 1947.

However, the theory claims that those behind the fossil fuel industry have surpressed its existence so they can continue to cash in on the polluting power source.

It comes after last month’s revelations about the Pentagon’s Advanced Aviation Threat Identification Program (AATIP) featured US Navy footage of a mystery UFO off the coast of San Diego in November 2004.

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Luis Elizondo, the former intelligence officer who ran the AATIP and then outed it, said it defied the laws of physics.

Mr Harzan said the news was a "turning point” in UFO investigation.

He told Space.com: “This is just the tip of the iceberg.

“MUFON’s military vaults are full of such videos and data on these objects.

“Now that the spill gates have been opened a little, it is time for the rest to come out in an orderly fashion.

“And in so doing, make it safe for our scientists and engineers to study this phenomenon without fear of ridicule or retribution, but with funding provided by Congress and private industry."

Alejandro Rojas, spokesman for the Scientific Coalition for Ufology (SCU), said being unexplained did not mean the UFOs were alien.

He said: “Remember, the 'U' is for unidentified, not alien.

"We don't know what these things are.

“Just because we get uncomfortable with the idea of aliens does not mean we should not investigate when the people who pilot our most advanced technology say they encounter something that outclasses their aircraft. It would be highly negligent not to investigate."

Steven Aftergood of the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington, DC, also urged caution.

He said: “It is somewhat dismaying to see how quickly 'unidentified' aerial phenomena are publicly interpreted and portrayed as UFOs of possibly extraterrestrial origin.

"Collectively, we should all be becoming more intelligent and more perceptive, not more stupid and gullible."